Shutterstock

Shutterstock charged me US$1750 for a Premiere License on a clip that was subsequently withdrawn form their website (after Shutterstock had accepted my payment in full). After five weeks, and at least four written emails cancelling the order (by this time my client had dropped me as a service provider based on false advertising - of the aforementioned clip being removed form Shutterstock site AFTER payment), they sent me the clip via Wetransfer - which I no longer required, had cancelled four weeks prior with multiple emails. And they refused a refund or even credit. I never downloaded the Wetransfer. In other words Shutterstock took US$1750 for a service they never delivered. As far as I'm concerned that's fraud. Trying to get a reply from the License Manager was an exercise in Khafkaesque ridiculousness. No answering the phone, no replying to emails - and then when I do finally receive an email - citing health issues, travel issues (what!?!?!?) but nothing you could call actual service, or help. DO NOT deal with this company, they will steal your hard earned money, and in my case, lose you clients. Just unbelievable!

I recently paid for a 5 image subscription because I needed a few images for a website I was building. A co-worker did not know how the subscription worked and downloaded 30 images (for a separate site) which essentially means that Shutterstock were, unbeknownst to them, paying $50 for each set of 5 images being downloaded. There was no notification or anything letting them know that this was the case, so in total he ended up racking up around $300 for pictures. I tried calling and seeing if the images could be added to the unused package but I was told that this was impossible. For a fairly large customer that continues to purchase photos, you would think that something could be worked out given that the pictures were erroneously purchased. Nope. Not only was the service rep rude and flippant but she also told me that a manager would be calling me back. It's been a week and I've received no such call. Shutterstock has lost a customer for life, and I will make sure that I recommend other services (pretty much any service) over them. Shutterstock is a scam under the guise of a legitimate company. I hope the small amount of money you get from scamming customers is worth aliening loyal users!

So many trick to steal your money! I wish I had read the reviews here before I subscribed.

The principle of the trick is hidden the simple meaning in the obscure, tons of garbage words.

Nov 2017.
I need a few photos for a project legally. Google told shutterstock.
1. The company looks great and professinal. So many official good news and paper.
2. The photos are nice.

Look at the price. Two plans: "$10 got 1 photo" VS "$29 got 10 photos in a month".
I choose $29/month happily.___

Here is the trick No. 1. Monthly paid DO NOT MEAN monthly plan.
It is a annual plan. It is a none stop annual plan. The true is $348 to have 10 photos download right every month.

June 2018.
When I notice Shutterstock had charge me $29 every month, was 6 months later. So I check the console to stop.And search from google, there is no way to stop by myself. Then I send email to support. Ask to stop and return the money. They replied. "they has stopped the plan. But no return"

Is that all? NONONO

Uptil Dec 2018.
I still the the bill from shutterstock every month.
WTF. There is auto renew subscription in the term. And no button to stop autorenew by myself.

=====
Jan 2019
After complain again to the customer support, with clear screen shot evident. They promise the return the charge since July 2018. Still waiting

Is that all? NONONO
I had to remove my credit card information from shutterstock. But how? No way, but send support ticket after the plan terminated.

This company stole money from me by signing me up to some subscription unknowingly on 11/29/16. I NEVER signed up for any subscription. I tried to login to the account that Shutterstock sent the payment confirmation email to, the same email which alerted me about this unauthorized payment in the first place. There is no account in that email? Ok, so no way to turn this subscription off. I tried contacting a million times, nothing. So, I opened a dispute with my bank.

Their customer service took a week to contact me and they said they got it sorted out and since I opened a dispute I thought I was all good.

WRONG.

They just charged me for this unauthorized subscription again on 2/17/17. Still no way to login. My bank says I can dispute it but need to turn off subscription for these subscription payments not to happen in the future. Well, that's not possible as I have no account or at least access to one, and it's especially not possible when you have customer service tell you one thing and they do another.

This site is stealing people's hard earned money. They stole $320 or so from me on unauthorized subscriptions I have no way of turning off. I'm headed to the BBB right now to submit this claim as well.

Stay away from this company! The reviews below should be ENOUGH PROOF!

I've used Shutterstock for years. Most recently, I purchased two five packs and a two-pack download for a project requiring 11 pictures. Keep an eye on that little 'auto-renew' button, because as I downloaded the pictures, one after another, the website defaulted to using the two-pack and autorenewing 4 times. I realize part of that is on me for not locating the little auto-renew button, but it should be obvious I did not want to spend extra money when I had a couple 5-packs still available. I contacted Shutterstock, and their policy was not to refund the multiple 2-download packs and use the remaining credits I still had. In other words, once Shutterstock have your money, it's more important than helping and ultimately keeping a customer.

I just wanted to update everyone about my on going issues with the worst company in the world that is New York based Shutterstock. Despite continuing complaining received a telephone call from a person called 'Henderson' who has to be one of the bonkers person I have ever spoken to. He promised the world but as usual lied through his teeth. It's clear that this idiotic organisation persists in telling even more lies to suit the owner of this shambolic business. I even sent the owner Jon Oringer a letter on the 3rd September and I'm still awaiting for a reply. So its simple lie, lie and lie again and when you report the staff of being idiots the billionaire owner could careless about the complaint as all be wants is your hard earned cash. What a sham!

As of June 1 2020 Shutterstock is offering contributor royalties that makes working in a sweatshop look good in comparison. "But Shutterstock had to cut costs due to Covid-19!" you say? Well, people were buying images just fine in March-April-May... my sales actually went *up*, and none of SS's competitors (Adobe Stock, Dreamstime, Alamy and many others) have felt the need to introduce such mercenary, unethical payment systems. This is sheer greed, pure and simple.

The result? Photographers, videographers, and graphic artists are deactivating their accounts in droves. There is *no* reason why anyone with any talent or self-respect would contribute there when the pay is so laughable and the management is so bad. If you love supporting sleazy companies with rapacious CEOs... well, you'd better get in fast, because the pickings are going to be awfully slim in the next couple of months. Go elsewhere.

I was attracted to the standard clickbait - 10 photos for free.
I wanted to download some pictures to see the quality of the photos.
For registration Shutterstock demanded to enter card data, I did that.
I downloaded 6 free photos out of 10 and forgot. Then I saw that I was charged 34.80 USD at the end of the month.
I wrote to the support service and asked for a refund for the service I did not use.
I was charged another $ 24 for canceling the plan.
They refused to agree to a peace agreement and a refund.
The money for canceling the plan was withdrawn, citing New York state law.
My case is a visual description of the service and approach to clients.
Read the terms of use carefully, because under a beautiful and seemingly harmless advertisement there is a tangible threat to your wallet due to inattention to the small print.
You cannot cancel a subscription with a button on the site, only through support, where they ultimately require you to pay the difference between the "discount".
All in all, a terrible service with a fraudulent scheme.

Shutterstock has fraudulently charged our bank account for three years every month for $199 without consent. This totals $6,567, which is more than a quarter of most American people's salaries a year. Shutterstock has only refunded 12 charges out of 33! We only purchase a one time transaction for 40 images. We are a pest control company, not a web development company. 350 images per month is outrageous and not plausible. Why would a pest control company subscribe to a 350 image monthly subscription? You can even access our log in history. Customer service even confirmed our company has only logged in once. It didn't cost your company anything for this "fraudulent" subscription because our company didn't even log in or use its services. Shutterstock was debiting out of our account to obtain free money.

My boss set me on the task to download some images for our new website with shutterstock and I got a serious dose of how horrible this company it. First off as a person that has worked with many stock image companies before their selection is really weak - a handful good images then sets of bad quality virtual duplicates that i've never seen with other stock companies i've used - it's like Shutterstock pay crap and get the bad photographers images just to boost their library numbers... either way we already had a big account with them so I found enough acceptable enough images but I kept getting error and server down messages from the site when trying to download images. I lost several credits to duplicate download erroers and plain failure to download and ultimately I failed to use all my credits in time thanks to all the errors... When I contacted their customer service I was told they didn't have server errors and the problem was on my end "we're so sorry" thats cute - server error in nyc time warner apparently comes with custom shutterstock logo error messages? Do they think we're stupid? I asked to speak to manager to simply get a 60min extension period to get the last 12 images i'd wanted but failed to download but was told I couldn't and that the rep would alert a manager and email me back... then two days later my boss tells me they responded saying the problem was on our end, time ran out on us and there's just nothing they can do... in addition I was not my boss so we were violating single user agreement and must upgrade to that for future use!

Shaking my head... Insane horrible company - if you plan to have an assistant click download for you make sure you use their name to your account and be prepared to waste a lot of time due to random server errors if you want to use this company - or spend a dime more and go with a company that understand quality stock imager and service

This Shutterstock is a scam.
I am a contributor and suddenly I cannot get into my account to upload photos, none of my login details have changed.
Shutterstock don't even recognise my email address when I try to change my password and I have tried different email addresses, in case I have used the wrong one. The password is correct.
I have requested my earnings so far and to demand they remove my photos as I do not want them making money off my photos as I do not want to deal with them anymore as all I make is 19p (GBP) per photo sold.
All this by email and all I get, if I get anything back, is someone who gives me the usual 'have you gone to the correct site'.
Yes I am on the correct site.
I just wish I'd have checked their reviews before I signed with them.
I will expose these scammers and the people who defend them.

SEE THE INCLUDED PICTURES.
Avoid this company (with its current renewed policy, June 2nd, 2020) like the plague. It's for your own good, here's why:

- Shutterstock disrespect their customers by trapping them into continuous buying schemes with no (free) way out.
- With only a one week notice, they sent an email explaining their new "Earnings structure", which entails a DRASTIC payment cut for its contributors, restarting every single year (See included snapshots). The earnings for a picture drops from $0.25-$0.38 cents to $0.10 and the earnings for a video from 30% to 15%. They grab 85% of the money.
- In order to climb back up to the old earnings level, contributors literally have to sell hundreds of pieces of content.
- This progress shall be obliterated every single year on January 1.
- What a blow, what an insult to all the faithful contributors through the years. To destroy their (alternative) income streams -during a pandemic!- with incomes already scarce.
- To all the buyers, step away from this poisonous place. Contributors don't put up with their sh*t anymore and and are moving en masse their work to other platforms, meaning the waves of fresh topical content will decrease immensely. If you want to remain ahead in the game, ABANDON THIS DYING PLATFORM NOW.

My background:
I had only started uploading for about half a year, working towards a hopeful future of building a passive income stream, with Shutterstock as the main upload agency. This dream was instantly crushed by the new earnings system, which sets both hobbyists as professionals way back. Only the top of the top uploaders might earn more than previously... at the end of the year at least.
I'm sorry, Shutterstock. I truly had faith in your reputation, that everybody is treated fairly and with respect. Your shortsighted idiotic strategy might work in favor for you for a couple of months, but on a long term... the souls are leaving behind you behind as an empty shell. Farewell.

#BoycottShutterstock, deactivate your account. Demand that they reverse this new robbery system to its former glory, at the very least.

My experience with this Rep was worse than the worst imaginable experience. I downloaded 2 images paid 29.00 one would not down loadoneed didn't download the other was too low res. Ok so that 29.00 was thrown Away. I didn't know that seconds later my "Renewal" would kick in and I was billed immediately for another 29.00 when I called her condescending reply was I am not refunding any of it you got your 2 images and you have a year to buy 2 more. I said I wasn't aware that the 29 was billed with 29 I was not aware I was set up for any automatic renewal much less the same day. She spoke to me like I was 5 let me explain how we work and why you are not getting anything refunded... I asked for a supervisor she said I have to hang up on you now. I asked her name she finally gave it to me. Luciky when I called back I got Jessica on the phone normal professional great listener and fixed my issue. The other one needs to work at a school for the deaf. No one should have to endure her horrible rude tone Ever. I filed a complaint against her hopefully saving someone!

This company has extremely deceptive practices and should be held accountable. Shutterstock advertise an "annual plan" for "$29" with a 10 image per month limit than charge you "$29" per month for a year and make you go through hell and high water to cancel the subscription. They charge a cancelation fee as if images is service consumers use regularly like a cell phone rather than project based.

I'm guessing somewhere in the fine print, it says the amount will be charged monthly but it's definitely not obvious in the offer itself. The offer implies that you pay $29 per year for 10 pics per month. I ended up paying $185 for about 10-12 images by the time I was allowed to cancel which included 5 monthly payments and a $40 "cancelation fee".

Companies like Shutterstock should be heald responsible for tricking consumers into these nonsensical contracts.

I signed up in March for a 10-image trial. I downloaded 4 images, decided the service wasn't for me, and then turned off the subscription (I thought). Apparently, I only "cancelled the subscription from renewing", and Shutterstock started billing me monthly for the service anyways. I did not notice this on my bank statement until today... 6 months and almost $200 USD later. Contacted Shutterstock immediately and was "helped" by a super passive-aggressive customer service agent named Sacha. She initially told me that I only stopped the subscription from renewing, and that they would waive the cancellation fee but would not provide a refund. In her words, she says "you paid for a monthly service, we can't make you use it." I thought it'd be clear from the fact that I never downloaded a single image, and I hadn't even logged in once since March, that this was a mistake. I was hoping Shutterstock would do the right thing and provide a refund, but they're definitely more interested in robbing from people with incredibly shady business practices. Now I'm waiting (but definitely not hopeful) on an "escalated ticket" to see if some of the months can be returned.

Please stay far far away. There are so many stock image companies out there, and I'm not certain you could do any worse than to choose Shutterstock.

This company is an absolute disgrace. Shutterstock are not transparent in their contract
Terms and pricing. You end up getting charged for something which is overpriced and then they make it close to impossible to get out of a plan. They keep renewing plans without your consent and you can't even turn off the auto renew feature in your account when you log on. When you ring to ask how you can cancel your account they say they will have to charge some massive fee to cancel your plan. The customer service is not much better. The customer service at this company DO NOT go out of their way to help. When you ask simply how to cancel a plan they just tell you it can't be done. If you don't want to be taken advantage of then DO NOT use this company. They are so dishonest.

BE CAREFUL, someone unauthorized ordered 2 Shutterstock subscriptions ($448.00) and charged them to my Visa. I have been a Shutterstock customer for at least 15 years, and when I contacted them about the unauthorized purchases I was told that Shutterstock would get back to me in 24 hours. And they did, 18 hours later, to tell me to change my password! Fortunately I contacted Visa after my useless conversation with Shutterstock, they immediately changed my card number and replaced my Visa card. Today, 48 hours later, I got an email notifying me that they (Shutterstock) are looking into my request to refund the $448.00. Really? While I expect no less than a complete refund, they seem to be missing the point--Shutterstock doesn't have a secure website, the procedure to handle a mishap, or the customer service to reassure victims of fraud.

This company has been charging me for four months even after I cancelled my trial membership. Whatever you do, do not sign up for shutterstock. Scammy, pathetic company who offered no help on the phone. Shutterstock's entire business model is built on running up people's cards past trial memberships whether Shutterstock have cancelled or not because most people don't even realize they are being charged. You know a company is worthless when their entire business model is built on scamming people instead of providing a valuable service. As I explained to them on the phone, I only signed up for the trial membership which I cancelled soon after. Since then, I haven't even logged on to their site in the past four months. That didn't stop them from stealing my money or refusing do give it back. I urge all consumers to protect themselves from this despicable company.

I have only written one other bad review before, so I'm careful in doing it with this company, but honestly, i must. Their customer service is just terrible. There is an "auto-renewal" notification feature with the photo services of this company and so a customer has to know this to be able to go into their account and turn OFF the notification and avoid the $29.99 annual fee. I did not know this and after making sure I had not used the service in that 12 mo window, I did a "live chat" with a customer service person who said she could not help me. Then I called the customer service number and she said Shutterstock do not give reimbursements even though they recognize that auto-renewal feature is defaulted ON. I think it's a pity for customers as well as these customer service people that this is the case. Our company is switching services as a result. :(

First, on ANY monthly plan, you lose your credits if you do not use them all by the end of the month. (And don't expect a refund for unused credits!)

Second, if you try to cancel your subscription Shutterstock will CHARGE YOU MORE for a cancellation fee! And mind you, there is no way to cancel your subscription yourself. You have to get a hold of someone in customer support during their limited business hours to help cancel.

I tried sending an email but got NO RESPONSE until AFTER they charged me again! How convenient is that! Then, they refused to reverse the charge even though I had emailed their support team 2 weeks before the charge was processed. They basically hit me with a... "well we're only cancelling your subscription going forward as a courtesy so we don't have to refund the previous payment even though we ignored your request for 2 weeks!"

This company has COMPLETELY missed the mark when it comes to customer experience AND product value. They are a SCAM and will continue to charge your card on their terms regardless of whether or not you are even using their services.

I have been a customer for over 3 years and unfortunately, my experience has been TERRIBLE. (recently made the mistake of signing up for a subscription) There are so many other BETTER photo companies to spend your money on. STEER CLEAR OF SHUTTERSTOCK!